Excellent! Automatic PF transfer soon when you switch jobs; Here’s how to ensure it happens

After changing jobs, one need not apply for PF Transfer and neither one will have to be worried about the PF Transfer status

The EPFO has also laid down a procedure for auto transfer of provident fund accounts through the Unified Portal.

Transfer of provident fund money on shifting jobs may become less troublesome now. According to PTI, labour ministry is considering a mechanism wherein the subscribers of PF would not require to file employee provident fund (EPF) transfer claims on changing jobs from the next financial year. The Automatic PF transfer will happen once the employee joins a new organisation. After changing jobs, one need not apply for PF Transfer and neither one will have to be worried about the PF Transfer status.

Importantly, in November 2017, the EPFO had circulated a note to all its zonal and regional offices to initiate an auto-transfer process for PF claims. The EPFO had also laid down a revised procedure for auto transfer of PF accounts that will ensure PF transfer online through the Unified Portal.

PF transfer online process

To ensure that the process is automatic, it is important that the new employee fills up the Composite Declaration Form (F-11) and enter the details including the UAN and the previous PF number. Once the new employer uploads this data on to the employer’s portal and the first month’s contribution is put into the employees PF by the new employer, the auto-transfer process will get triggered, the employee will get communicated through SMS after the transfer goes through.

Essentials

As an employee, one needs to also ensure that his Aadhaar and bank details are seeded and verified by the previous employer before shifting jobs. As per the Unified Portal website of EPFO, seeded Aadhaar against activated UAN is mandatory for online claim submission. The website says – Members with authenticated Aadhaar and bank details seeded against their UAN can now submit their PF Withdrawal/Settlement/Transfer claims online.

PF transfer – offline process

In case, the Aadhaar number is not seeded to the UAN, one has to route the transfer offline. Also, in case of transfer of PF by the employees of the exempted organisation, the transfer process has to be taken up offline. In both cases, one has to fill Form 13 (Revised).

Transferring PF funds while shifting jobs has always been a time taking process and involves running around between one’s previous and new employer. Going forward, the transfer claims may become more seamless and less time consuming for the employee